Latest / The Breakfast Club / Gabby Seay Talks BlackPAC, Importance of Early Voting, BLM Movement, Democratic Party + More

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Gabby Seay Talks BlackPAC, Importance of Early Voting, BLM Movement, Democratic Party + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: In the morning Breakfast Club Morning. Everybody is DJ Envy,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Angel Yee, Charlomagne the guy. We all the Breakfast Club.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: We got a special guest in the building, GABC. Hello,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: good morning. You're from the BPACK Black Progressive Action Coalitiontion. Yeah,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: B PACK and Blackpack. We are a national organization that's
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the voted to turn it out black voters across the country.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: And we do this not in election years and medterm
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: elections that's happening right now, but every single day because
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: for black people, our lives and our freedom is always
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: on the ballot. And so that's what we do and
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: who we are voting. How's it looking right now early
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: voting twenty eight almost twenty nine million Americans have already
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: early voted. So like there's lie that we've been hearing
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that there's an enthusiasm gap, that we're not seeing democrats
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: or young people or black people come out at the
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: same rate. False, we're sitting there come out at record rates.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: And so it's happening already. We see in battleground states
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  Speaker 1: like Pennsylvania where John Fetterman is on the ballot he's
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: running for Senate, and Georgia. I know y'all have been
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: talking about Georgia a lot, y'all, Uncle Herschel, these have
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: places where we're seeing democrats really show up and show
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: out in an early vote. So we feel good about that.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Is it difficult to get some of the black voters
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  Speaker 1: out because they feeling like every time they do come out,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: it feels like politicians don't show up for them. You know,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: it's difficult caught because one just the history of black
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: folks in this country right make a lot of things difficult.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: But what we have seen throughout history is that the
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: most consequential moments in American history where we have progressed
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: our country forward, black people have been at the center
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: of that. Black people have been advocating for that. And
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: so black folks more than any other group of Americans,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: know what it means to have your freedom on the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: ballot and they know that the power in the vote,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and so things are difficult right now. You know, goods
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: are more expensive, Inflation is rising. You know, an expensive
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: food is expensive, every drink is expensive. You know, I'm
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: scared to leave my house. Every time I leave my house,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I feel like I spend a rack. But ridiculous it
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: is so I get people being frustrated in this moment,
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  Speaker 1: But I think we also have to understand that progress,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: our power isn't our vote in progress is sometimes slow.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have elected officials that
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: have our values, that understand our issues. When folks ask
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: me that question, and I get that a lot. The
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: things that we should be looking for and elected officials,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: it's clarity on our issues. Do they understand what is
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: facing our community? Right? Do they understand? Are they willing
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: to listen and learn about what's happening? Number two? Do
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: they have a plan to execute on this? Right? So
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: that's tangibles, a lot of talking points, but they have
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: no solutions. Cool, you know you have some ideas. That's
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: what elections are about, right, That's what we do in
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: this election. We evaluate people's plans. But then the most
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: important part, and the part that we often forget is
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: once they are in office, holding them up accountable to
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: those plans, making sure that we are showing up and saying, hey,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: you said you were going to do this in your election,
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  Speaker 1: did you do it right? People have an opportunity every two,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: four or six years to get people out of office.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I wish we had those opportunities in relationships. I wish
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: that if you start dating somebody to be like like,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: we would be healthier and relationships if that was true. So, like,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: you know, elections are about making the best choice that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: you can with the information you have right now. We
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: can't see into the future, we can't protect our people
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: will behave, but what we can look at his history.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of times, I think I feel
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: like with these elections, it almost feels like you're forced
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: to pick somebody that you don't necessarily want, right Like
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: even with Joe Biden, a lot of people you know,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: didn't necessarily that wasn't their first choice, but he was
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the only choice at the time, and it was like, well,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I guess I have to, you know. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that happens a lot. I feel like with with especially
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: with our coaching community, blacks and brown I just feel
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: like a lot of times I feel like we get
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: smacked in the face all the time, right and you say, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna vote for a black judge, we vote for
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the black judge, and then the black judge that looks
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: like us, it feels like he does more hurt than help.
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  Speaker 1: Then you look at all these other communities. Right you talk,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: you look at Kyrie and you see, you know what
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: he said about the Jewish people, and immediately they donated
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: five hundred thousand, and he has to take classes or
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: whatever it may be. But then you look at some
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: of these owners that said some things about black people
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: and they never had to take no classes, no money.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So it feels like it's constantly against us, and it
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: has to be to the point where it's like, why
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  Speaker 1: am I voting? Yeah, how does it help? How does
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: it benefit me on my kids? Or I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: say one thing too though, I think it's really important
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to also encourage people who you think would represent you
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: well to run for office, because I think too often
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: people who would be great in those positions aren't even
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: thinking about that. And so we should encourage people who
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: were like, you know what, you would be a great
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: counsel person, or you would be a great let's get
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: you on the path to do that. And sometimes that
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  Speaker 1: does take financial support, Yes, I mean that's a real
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: barrier to a lot of folks running for office. Most
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of the people that are in Congress are millionaires, right,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: A lot of them are well off. Get your money right.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: But you know a lot of folks like um like
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: to make fun of a person like AOC because she
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: was a bartender before you know, she became a member
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  Speaker 1: of Congress. But I'm okay with that, right, Yeah, I'm
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: okay with a person that had to work their way
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  Speaker 1: through college. Right. I'm okay with a pipe fitter or
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a plumber becoming a member of Congress or running for
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: elected office. My daddy is a pipe fitter and plumber.
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  Speaker 1: We have to have to set those candidates financially, and
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: that's important too. And then even right now, like as
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: we get close to these elections, we see so many
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: ads on TV, and there's so many different things coming.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: We don't know what's too and what's not right, Like
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: in particular in New York, we're looking at Leezeldon versus
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Governor Kathy Hokel And when I tell you, I see
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: a Lee Zelden ad like every five seconds, every everywhere,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: and the thing is that he's saying. And then Kathy
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Hooker was up here also, they both have been up here,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: and so a lot of times it's dispelling the narratives
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: that are put out there. But sometimes people just say,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: I'm like I feel like politicians can just say anything
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  Speaker 1: anything about the other person, whether or not it is true,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and then it's really up to us to fact check.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: But sometimes people aren't fact checking. Yeah, and I think
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: we have to That is yes and no, right, So yes,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: people sometimes politicians say wild things and say things about
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: each other. But we have seen a change in the
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: tenor just look at what happened to Speaker Pelosi's husband.
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  Speaker 1: There is a time in politics where elderly man being
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: attacked in his own home will cause horror across the board,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: no matter what's your political affiliation, no matter who you are,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and that did not happen, and it's very sad and
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: it's very very scary. So I think you're right. There
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: are concerted efforts right. Lee's Eldon is a part of
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: these concerted efforts. Herschel Walkers a part of these concerted
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  Speaker 1: efforts to lie to black and brown voters. We have
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: to know that that is happening and they are not
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  Speaker 1: on our side, and we have to look at history
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and we have to assess the facts. And you know,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you don't have to be a political scientist and have
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a PhD in communications to call out a lie. We
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: call out lives all the time, right, We do that
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  Speaker 1: all the time, and so let's not have the horror
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: that people feel when they see politicians just say wild
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: things about each other. We should feel that, but we
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  Speaker 1: should also allow that to inform how we are making
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: those choices, because that if that is something that they
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  Speaker 1: say out loud in front of you, imagine what they
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: say about you behind your back. The problem is a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people can't fact check. They don't have the
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: time to fact check. You know, as a kid, when
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: you've seen politicians on TV and they were talking, usually
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: after you would see a wrap up and they would
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: try to fact check. But now with this phone, yeah,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: this phone live is more than anything else in this world.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: When you look at something and you think it's true,
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  Speaker 1: but it's not true, so you don't know who to follow,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: where to go to fact check. I mean Wikipedia, which
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: most people get their information is wrong. Because I'm a
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: gardener on that and I've never been a gardener. You
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: can find something to back up anything. You can't. You
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: can find something to back up everything. That's why. But
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: organizations like Black Pack or Important because we do this
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: kind of deep work to build trust among black voters.
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  Speaker 1: We've knocked on over three million doors in Pennsylvania and Nevada,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: in Michigan and Wisconsin, in Virginia and North Carolina and Georgia.
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  Speaker 1: Because we need to do this work, and we're not alone,
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  Speaker 1: and there are tons of national organizations that are doing
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: this work. There are even more local organizations that are
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: doing this work to dispel the myths, and we're here.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Like media has an obligation, you all recognize your obligation
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: to the public and what you're saying is really important
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and people look to you for your opinion. So I
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: think what we're doing now having this conversation helps to
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: dispel the myths. Listening and find your organizations that you
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: trust that have been on the right side of history consistently.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: If you see an organization that's talking about something, you've
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: never heard of them. They're saying the wildest thing, right.
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  Speaker 1: People don't have time to go and fact check everything.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: But you got your spidy sense, you got your gut,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: you got what your grandmother told you at some point.
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  Speaker 1: You know, like, we have ways to assess if something
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: is really okay. So tell me if this is real,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: because I've seen that their statistics that are leaving the
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Democratic Party at a higher rate than anybody else. Is
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: that myth? Or is that true? Listen? I have a
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: friend more Reice Mentrol who runs the Working Families Party
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: that says, you know, grass grows where you water it, right,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: And I think when it comes particularly to black men,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: there are tons of challenges that we've seen in this election.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: We've seen this and misinformation to allow people to stay home.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: We've seen that in twenty twenty. What is happening now
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: is people are actually believing it and not just staying
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: home because they don't trust the system, but considering voting
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: for people that they never would have before. A couple
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: of things that we should take away from that one
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: we have to continue to do this work that Black
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Pack and b Pack have been joined in talking to
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: black voters all the time, right constantly saying, Hey, is
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden doing what you asked him to do? All right?
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah he is, because when if you look at the data,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: he has delivered on ninety percent of the things that
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: he talked about in the campaign, delivering for black folks.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: So I think we have to really ask those questions.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: And I also think it's true that that this is
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: a time and a volatile time that folks are looking
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: for answers right and sometimes the answers are not right,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: but it is an answer, and so we have to
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: continue to do the work to let folks know that
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: we have a real choice to make in this election,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: and voting for someone again doesn't mean that you got
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: to be married to it forever. You're gonna have an
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: opportunity to hold them accountable, and you're gonna have an
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: opportunity to choose someone else if we want someone else
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: to run for office. You have a choice in this election.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: And I think that's the number one thing we have
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: to impress upon people. Joe, vote Democrat because we're telling
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: you too, because because your grandmother has, because everybody that
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: you know has. That's not that's not what we're telling
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: you to do. What we're telling you to do is
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: look at people's plans, look at their ability to act
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: on those plans, and look at what they have done
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: for you in the past. Right part, you were part
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: of the team that helped Eric Adams come may of
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: New York. Absolutely not. I yeah, I ran an independent
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: expniture from Maya Wiley. Now Eric Adams is my mayor
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I want him to be successful. I want this black
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: man to be successful. I will always do everything I can.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: But that's not where I started. Where Eric, did you?
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: How did you get into this right now? Like we
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: usually don't like that, Like ye service political director at
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the Influence Labor Union propel Eric Adams to become mayor.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: But anyway, how did you get started in? No? No,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I think you got so. Yeah, I get in politics.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: So I grew up in the South end, in the
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Midwest group in Alabama and Ohio, and I actually got
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: involved Huntsville. I'm a you're gonna see some of my cousins. Yes, yeah,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: you'll definitely see my uncle, some of my cousins. I mean,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: my father has eleven first brothers and sisters or brothers
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: and sisters, so we got a big family. So you're
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: gonna see my cousin away. You should. Anyway, No, I
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: got started um around two thousand and three the Iraq War.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I was in college and my brother went into the
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: army and was stopped lost. I went to University of Toledo,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: go rockets and um. Before he was discharged from the military,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: he had to go fight in the war in Iraq.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: So I got really involved in the anti war work
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: and protesting. And this man, John Kerry was running for president.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: He was like, I'm an in the war in Iraq,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: and you know, I'm nineteen year old Gabby like me
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and John Kerry going in the war in Iraq, and
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I like work my little heart out for him. Um,
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: he didn't win. My brother eventually came home. You know,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Middle East is still in a quagmire. But it really
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: sparked a desire in me. I always had a desire
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: to help people, but I found politics was a way
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: for me to have an impact on a lot of
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: different issues. Because there isn't one issue I care about.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: I care about them all and I care about our people.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: And so that's how I got started. It has continued
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: and worked on all kinds of campaigns within organizations. So
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: leven I and I say, I use is the labor
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: union I worked for here in New York City. So
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: that's how I got started. And that's my story, and
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of folks have a similar story.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: At a point that propelled you into action. For me,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: it was my brother. For others, it might be experience
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: they had in their childhood. It might be then listening
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: to the show and they're like, let me go. I've
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: never thought about that, let me go to that. So
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: there are many pathways to this kind of work. So
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: let me ask you this. Right, when people vote, sometimes
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: if you don't do your research, you might just vote
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: on your party line. For you, have you always only
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: voted Democrat? Have you ever voted for a Republican? You know,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: I've never voted for a Republicans. I haven't had one
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: with whom my value is aligned with more than the Democrats.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Have I voted for Democrats that I think We're not
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: my first choice, absolutely right, But for me, when I
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: when I look at what's important to me, when I
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: look at the legacy of what of what different not
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: different parties, but what different UM elected officials that I
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: think have my values done, They've always they've always been
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: democratic and and maybe a little bit further now, would
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I ever vote for a maybe in this current environment.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: I don't understand why, um that why I would, But
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I've always uh you know, voted my values and us
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: always alige. I think about the two party system because
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: we've heard a lot of people criticizing that too. I
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: think the two party system is what we have here
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: in the United States. And one thing that we shouldn't do,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and I encourage folks not to do, it's not let
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: the perfect be the enemy of the good. Like we
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: have a functioning democracy right now as we speak. You know,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of this is on the line in this election.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: If you care about elections, if you care about this democracy,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: if you care about institutions being there for our community,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: like this is a really critical election for folks to
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: be in. I think that everyone participating in democracy is
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: a good thing, whether you're a Republican Democrat, whether you're
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: a third party like the Working Famili's Party or the
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Conservative Party here in New York State. I like, I
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: personally believe that all these things should be a part
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: of our democracy. But I'm realistic about the system that
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: we have to operate in right now now. Black Lives Matter?
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Has that helped to hurt your your cause an organization?
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Because people it's hard for people to see what the
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: organization is compared to the hashtag, compared to the movement.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: So I know a lot of times people look at
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: it like it's that organization good? Are they just out
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: there for money? So? Has that helped to hurt what
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: you've been doing. I mean, first of all, like our
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: name is Blackpack, so we are here for black people. However,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: black people need us to be. I think that Black
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Lives Matter movement was really consequential for a lot of things,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: to put a spotlight squarely on things that we live
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and deal with every single day. And so I think
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: our Black Lives Matter, we really owe it our community
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: as a whole, not just black and brown folks, but
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Americans in this entire world really owe a debt to that.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: But you know what, our work, the work that we
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: have been doing Black Packs since twenty sixteen, is so consequential,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: and it's and it continues to be and it always
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: will be no matter what movement pops up, whether there's
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter where that we're talking about me too.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: These are all things that collectively strengthen our political awareness,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: right because black lives matter. I saw some people in
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty protesting that I would have never thought were
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: out in this street. So what movements like that do
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: is raise political consciousness, allow people to see themselves in
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: a different way, and kind of you know, rising tide
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: lifts all boats. When we have more folks that are
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: actively participating no matter how they came to it, if
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: they came to political uh, if they came into political
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: awareness because they went to a Black Lives Matter protest
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and now they're voting and organizing that its communities. That
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: is great. We've seen that across the board. What are
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: some things in particular right now that's going on that
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: actually make you angry when you think about what's happening.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: I want to know what's at the top of your
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: list of the things that you're You're like, we should
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: all be mad about. I mean, no, you know, I'm
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: not giving him anymore today. Y'all have talked about that
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: enough and no, um, he isn't the thing that works me.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: The thing that you know, really concerns me and should
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: concern us. Are you know, the attacks at our institutions
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: When we talk about our freedom being on the line
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: right now, that's what we really mean right now. The
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Supreme Court Monday heard arguments about dismantling affirmative action. Right,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: So let's just play this a little bit. So if
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: we dismantle affirmative action, what colleges have told us across
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: the board, whether they are elite universities or state universities
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: that this is gonna decrease access, this is going to
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: decrease diversity. We are gonna see less black and brown
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: folks go to college if we do this, Supreme Court,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: it's like, oh, all right, no problem to us, um,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: So let's play it for it that happens we see
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: less and less black and brown folks going into universities
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: in the future. Rarely do you see any leader in
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: this country that doesn't have a college degree, Not a
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: member of Congress, rarely, not a CEO of a fortune
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: five hundred company, not the most influential reporters. You certainly
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: don't not kind of see anyone, Um almost you know, well,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: you know I said, I said usually listen always, but yes, okay,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: don't beat up on it here. But the point is that,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: you know, halways of leadership usually go through higher education, right,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: And so we're attacking this institution, we're making it harder
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: for certain folks to be a part of it. That
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: is worrying to me because what that means is in
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: twenty years, we're probably going to have a very male
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: and a very pale leaders across this country. They might
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: not have the experiences that I have had as a
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: black woman. That is upsetting to me when we see
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the Supreme Court say, hey, the Environmental Protection Agency, which
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: is what they did in June, doesn't have the authority
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: anymore to regulate greenhouse and gas emissions. Right, We're in
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: a climate catastrophe as we speak. We feel it every day.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: Seventy degrees today in New York and November November I
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: was hot all week, right, And folks will say, oh, well,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: the climate change is all the time. No, it does
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: not change in this way. And so institutions like the
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Supreme Court, which is appointed. The Supreme Court we have
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: right now is largely overturning roll versus like these are
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: all super consequential decisions that should make. That should frighten us,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: because while that's happening at the Supreme Court, we have
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: legislatures changing the way our children are educated, changing the curriculum.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: We are banning books like let's talk about the attacks
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: on democracy. Right now in Arizona, there are people monitoring
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: ballot drop boxes, armed camouflage, taking pictures of people, taking
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: pictures of their license play, following them home. These are
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: all very scary things. Now we're telling you this not
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: to scare you out of voting, but to allow you
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: to see that our we have power in our vote,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: We have power in the way that we are educated.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: If we did not, they would not be working so
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: hard to take it that we're going to go vote,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: And so they trying to intimidate everybody. I said the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: whole thing about the Boogaloo boys, and yeah, it's scary,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: but but we have the ability and the powers that
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: have an impacted. So when people say why should I vote,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: what I say is, why are you willingly giving your
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: power away? Why why are you telling yourself I don't
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: deserve to be in this conversation. I don't deserve to
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: have the representation that I need, that our communities need,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: that my family needs. And so there are lots of
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: things that are piss of me off right now. But
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: I think the dismantling of the institutions that have made
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: us this country who it is and have provided folks
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: like me. I'm a generation away from picking cotton. My
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: father pick cotton. My grandfather was a sharecropper and did
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: not die not knowing how to read. Wow, and here
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I am talking to you all. That's the American dream,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: But that no longer. Most people do not have access
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: to that now. Influencewatch dot com said that b Pack
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: is said to be a dark money group. What is
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: a dark money group? I don't know what a dark
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: money group is. If a dark money group to you
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: is an organization that mobilizes and turns out black people
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: to vote and wreck your numbers, yes, then yes where
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: a dark organisation. If a dark organization is one that
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: holds elected officials accountable, yes, we'll help you get into office,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: but we're also going to hold you accountable and we're
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: going to show up, then yes, we're a darc running organization.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: I think that influence whatever. I'm gonna even give them
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: a name again. Um, you know, it's targeting people who
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: are building political power and trying to make it. These
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: spook your organizations. No, you know what black Pack does
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: tell black people that they're powerful, that their vote matters,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: and then they need to turn out to vote. What
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: about you running for office? Absolutely not. So there are
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: some people that are more behind the scenes people. There
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: are some folks that like really love helping others. That's me. Um.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I have worked for elected officials, helped elect a lot
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: of elected officials. That is that is the role that
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I play. I don't want me an elected office either, man,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I would be insufferable. No, I don't. It's just it's
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: it's not for me. Every person has a pathway. I
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: think that's the wonderful thing about elections and about politics.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of ways for you to have an
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: impact in it. And it isn't just about running for
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: her office. Angela, You're one hundred percent right. The people
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: who should run for office are not the people who
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: usually stop up right. That's what I'm thinking, because it
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: feels like what you need is, honestly, people who can
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: mobilize people, people know how to get things done, have plans,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: can put those plans into action. Yeah, well I don't
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: know if I could do that job in this job.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Why not log Oh. I was like, well, that one's
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: going there. I'm gonna have my own show, okay, starting
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: in January actulation, And much like Gabby, I feel like
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: my role is these efficients we I mean, look, we've
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: had chio say up here. I know, you know, he's
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: my congress or my compliment. We live in the same
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: area Hakeem Jeffreys as well, you know, and so obviously
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: we had Kathy Hokland, Lee's elden up here and so
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: I think you know my role is to give a
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: light to something. I don't know if I could be
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: on the radio and be running for office, I don't
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: know if that would be No, it's up to you.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: It's your time because because you know the fair time acting,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: you know I would have to give whoever's running against
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: me the same amount. How could I not? You see
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: what happened to Chris Cuomo? So how donate to your
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: organization if they want to get behind you and maybe
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: don't want to run like you, or join the organization.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: So you can go to Blackpack dot com b L
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: A c k pac dot com to learn more about
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: our organization. If you are looking for resources for this election,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: you want to know where your voting location is, uh,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: you know your pulling location is ours? You can go
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: to a Blackpack vote talk and he's on the ballot
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: so that you can go through it before you get there.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Like I always say, make sure that you have a
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: plane go look it up. See who these people are
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: if you don't know, because sometimes there's people you're like
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: where these people and you just randomly picky, but know
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: who you're voting for, know who you're voting for, and
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: make a plan to vote. We know that when people
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: make a vandom float to vote, they are much more
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: likely to do so. And so encouraging your listeners to
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: make a plan to vote, whether they want to vote early,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: they want to vote on an election day, how are
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: you getting too your polling location again? Folks can go
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to blackpack vote dot com to learn more about voting
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: in their state, and to blackpack dot com to learn
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: more about an organization and to be able to join
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: and donate. Like I said, our members and our volunteers
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: are texting, calling, knocking on doors every single day. We
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: have never left. In some states like Pennsylvania and Michigan,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: we never stopped talking to black folks and real organization
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: that we'll talk to any like. There is no qualification.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: You don't have to have voted in X elections or
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: supported X candidates if you are black, were believe in
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: you're innate power to change our country because we've done
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: it many many times before. How does that feel someone
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: come into your door announced. We had a whole conversation
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: about canvas saying, yeah, it's hard because how many people
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: witness used to come. I'm not expecting someone I have
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: to send people in like a ups outfit. No. Yeah,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: actually people are are nicer than you think. I you know,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: everywhere you be surprised. I get a warmer reception if
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: someone was like, go knock on doors than Carnarsi, or
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: go knock on doors in Long Island. I would choose
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Canarsi every single day of the week because people are lovelier. Um,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: you know, nothing against Long Island. I'm not reallywed to
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: get that coffee now, while people are, I know they
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: It depends state to state. States have the ability to
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: control elections, which is why secretary of states are so
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: important in most places because they control elections. And if
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: you have a secretary of state that leaves that Donald
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Trump won the presidential election and we'll do anything to
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: make sure that he wins again in twenty twenty four,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: that's a bit of a red fly. Right. Let's not
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: support those people that believe that elections should uh should
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: only be recognized if your particular candidate wins um and
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: so those rules about you know what happens in line?
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Can you give somebody that is cold a blanket? In
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: some places you cannot I think I don't even know why,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: why that's how that even happened. I just don't well,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: because too we don't want to know how that happens.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: Because too many black folks are turning out to vote
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: in record numbers and early. So the first folks try
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: to restrict you know, you have to have certain type
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: of IDs. Then they try to restrict hours. Oh, you
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: can only go at these certain hours. And black volks
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: were like, you can do all those things. I am
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: still voting and they still vote it. And now it's like, okay, well,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: now that you have long lines, now that you can
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: only vote at certain times of day, you're gonna have
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: to wait in this eight hourly and you can know
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: food unless you bring it yourself, no one can help you.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: And so like these are these are intentional and planned.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: These I like people should be upset that they are
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: elected officials almost entirely whom are Republicans right now that
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: are trying to find ways to take away You're right?
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: They take away I right to bother you autonomy, you know,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: with the road decision hanging away our right to breathe
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: clean air, with the EPA decision taking away rights here
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: and there if you're okay with those things been taken
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: from you by all means, are you hopeful that since
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: you bought up Donald Trump that he'll be accountable for
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: January six or any of the things that he's done.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: You know, I try not to say anything about Donald
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Trump and what will or will not happen to him,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: because he is a private citizen that has little control
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: over my life right now, right and so I don't
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: really try to give him the time and space in
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: my mind. What I will say is that, you know,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump is just one of the indications of what
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: folks who do not want us to have power have
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: been up to for decades. It didn't start with Donald Trump,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: it didn't start with Sarah Paline, and start a long
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: time ago, you know, um, preparing for this moment right now,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: we are living the wildest dreams of people who have
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: tried to keep us oppressed ever since we landed here
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: in sixteen nineteen. For black folks is what I'm talking about.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: So um, I'm not you know, whether he's help accountable
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do with imagine being able to run
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: again after all of that. You know, the Constitution allows
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: him to do that. I can't stop anybody. I'm saying,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: even if if he gets convicted of something, then maybe not,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: maybe not. But I think that what he has shown
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: is he has no regard for laws, for the constitution,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: for things that we have always done in this country,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: like recognize elections. He has no regard for that. Other
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: countries think of us when they look at our whole
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: everything that's going on here. They got their problems to Yeah,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: but you know when we travel other places, people be like,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: y'all are crazy. We appreciate you. Thank you for having
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: me so much, just putting a pleasure. Seni advisor to
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: BPACK Black Progressive Action Coalition, thank you once again one
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: more time. Website so people. Website is BLACKPAC dot com
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: b O A c K p AC dot com, blackpack
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks so much. Al Right, it's to breakfast
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Local more